World Famous Comics: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier
By: Alan Moore Publisher: WildStorm Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: WildStorm Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 200 Publication Date: November 04, 2008 Release Date: November 04, 2008
Product Description: England in the mid 1950s is not the same as it was. The powers that be have instituted...some changes. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been disbanded and disavowed, and the country is under the control of an iron-fisted regime. Now, after many years, the still youthful Mina Murray and a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain return and are in search of some answers. Answers that can only be found in a book buried deep in the vaults of their old headquarters, a book that holds the key to the hidden history of the League throughout the ages: The Black Dossier. As Allan and Mina delve into the details of their precursors, some dating back centuries, they must elude their dangerous pursuers who are Hell-bent on retrieving the lost manuscript... and ending the League once and for all.
Is this the end? I enjoyed reading the lastest entry to the League line up. I enjoyed the continued romance of Mina and Allan. It was fun to have some background on other League members but not essential to the story development.
I didn't care for the way it ended, didn't want to punch out the paper reading glasses so I could read the last few pages. I like to keep my novels in the shape I bought them. I will be reselling most of these in the near future.
J
Challenging but worth it. Most of the complaints I've read on this page can be summarized as "waaaah this book is too haaaaaard"
Fact is, this is flat out ****ing genius. Read it with Wikipedia open, read the annotations, look at it all carefully. There's so much here.
The book is absolutely freakin' genius. It's something along the lines of the Wold Newton Family created by Philip Jose Farmer, but far more brilliant and wide ranging. Alan is tying together not just a brilliant fictional architecture but also explaining how that fictional architecture has informed our own reality and history.
This is an encyclopedia of popular fiction, and a history of our myths and legends. This is the kind of book that people will be writing about our century a hundred years from now, written today.
It's not for everyone, sure, but if you're willing to put in the effort it is absolutely worth it.
A review of LoEG: The Black Dossier I'm still not quite sure what to make of Black Dossier. I'm happy to see more LoEG, and pleased that where the comic is interrupted with diaries, books, and travel guides, these are not the same somewhat-dull walls of text that rounded out volume two. The majority of them are fascinating and entertaining, and bring much more life to the League's history than vol. 2 did. My favorite was the recounting of how Mina got Nemo to agree to joining the League.
However, I'm missing the old league members (Nemo and Hyde seemed so much more interesting than Allan and sometimes even Mina). It also feels like we've missed out on so many amazing adventures, which we get to hear about secondhand through the diaries, comics, and book-segments. Moreover, I was not in love with the plot. Allan and Mina basically steal the Black Dossier, a series of documents that outline the history of the League and the generations who have served in it (before and after Mina's League). What follows is a long chase story that involves James Bond, Bulldog Drummond, and the remnants of an Orwellian government. For a series that can be so smart, this plot seemed rather blah - I felt like this was mostly an excuse to give us League history and less about Mina and Allan's latest adventure.
If you've read all of vol. 1 and 2, there are lots of references and visuals that you will get, and be pleased that you get them... just expect to spend a lot of time poring over the book. While this volume has skads of references to other literature and films, it's become just as much a self-referential piece. The artwork is, as always, amazing. And that brings me to another thing... expect lots of sex and nudity. But shouldn't you expect that from any work that includes a Tijuana Bible? Particularly an Orwell-inspired one? The 3-D section worked surprisingly well.
A Gripping Masterpiece, yet again... At first I was unsure of how I would stomach this word-heavy addition to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I have enjoyed all of Alan Moore's previous work, including the two previous Leauges, but still... Can a comic, or graphic novel, still retain its value as a comic, when peppered with so many of these seemingly authentic pieces of evidence?
I believe, this technique greatly enhanced the story.
This comic puts the reader in a place that they don't often go. It really pulls you into the world of the characters. You read what they read, as they read it in "the Black Dossier", a file maintained by the League's one-time employers, containing "historical" and "current'' pieces of evidence in the form of popular and classic fiction. This technique was also employed in Mr. Moore's other comic gem, Watchmen, when a young boy reads "Tales of the Black Freighter".
I can understand why some may dislike this approach, or why they might feel as though the plot isn't thick enough. I personally feel, that this story was executed masterfully. I particularly enjoyed reading the pieces written by Shakespeare, and the portion written as a Jeeves and Wooster story.
Alan Moore kept this comic very English, and managed to present a convincing file, to add depth to his brilliantly exciting and adventurous world.
If any one is daunted by having to read words outside of a comic speech-balloon, I'm sorry, but this just isn't for you. If you do appreciate it, you may be one of very few, but I believe you truly understand what Alan Moore was aiming with this book, and that you will count it as one of the greats.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier This book should have been marked better. My 11 year old loved the movie and the 1st 2 books. However this one showed up and it was porno. OK for an adult, but rather crude and quite graphic for anyone who is under 18! Quite graphic sex on every page. Don't get me wrong, as the artistic side portrays the female form and oral sex quite well, but for my kid??? Now I am stuck with this and can't give it to my kid, as I did the first 2 books, but who do I sell it to??????? I learned a lesson here I guess.
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